Chef Will Rogers puts finishing touches on a dish in the UMD Green Tidings Food Truck.
William Rogers had a problem, and it had to do with straws.
As the executive chef of Good Tidings, this university’s catering service, straws were certainly not Rogers’ only concern. But they became an important part of his effort to streamline the process of waste disposal at the food truck, UMD Green Tidings, that he has run on campus since June.
The problem is that these compostable straws were made of a material that was too weak. Students hoping to enjoy lemonade from the food truck were having difficulty, as the straws tended to puncture when pushed through the lids. Recently, the truck transitioned to a different but more durable compostable straw.
“I’m trying to avoid going to a plastic straw because plastic straws are really bad for compostable bins,” he said. “We’re trying to make it easy on everybody so they don’t have to think about it.”
The truck is not his only arena. He works in five kitchens; in addition to the truck, there’s one below the Stamp Student Union, one in both the Comcast Center and Byrd Stadium, and one at the president’s house. In each location, Rogers emphasizes sustainability. His work is part of a growing effort on campus and across the country to go green and minimize harm to the environment.
Rogers, now 31, was born in Chicago but grew up in New Freedom, Pa. He attended Pennsylvania State University as a computer engineering major, but decided to drop out after a year to enroll at the Culinary Institute of America in New York.
“I just like food,” he said. ”I’ve always liked food. I was a cook as a kid, but I always like to see new things and to learn new things and I think that’s why I like catering because our food is new every day.”
In the middle of his time at the institute, he took an internship at a Ritz-Carlton in Florida. After graduating, he moved to Georgia and started working at a Ritz-Carlton there, along with two other local restaurants. He worked his way up and moved to Arlington, Va., with the hotel chain.
“The quality of life is tough at hotels,” he said. “Most times you work six days a week. You’re always working 12 hours or more — it’s a grind.”
Soon, he heard about a job opening at this university and decided to apply.
At this university, Rogers found a lot more freedom — freedom to have his own kitchen, spend more time with his wife and write his own menus.
Abbott Albright, head of catering for Good Tidings, was looking for a new chef and a new direction for the kitchen when he found Rogers. He said he was instantly impressed and could tell the young chef was motivated and hard working.
“When he hit the ground, he hit it running,” Albright said, “and next thing I knew I turned around and was like, ‘Holy crap.’”
Albright said the process of coming up with the food truck was initially something the two worked on together, but Rogers then ran with it and made it his own.
“I just let go of the reins and said, Iit’s all yours,’” Albright said. “It’s his baby and it’s his concept.”
Though the university has demonstrated a commitment to green products, it was actually Rogers’ time in Georgia that solidified his interest in eco-friendly cooking. One of the restaurants he worked for was “farm-to-fork,” meaning all the food is grown locally. A farmer, whom Rogers called Sid, would ask the chefs which crops they’d like to cook and grow those for the restaurant, Rogers said. Sid would take the compost from the restaurant and use it to make soil for the plants, thus creating a cycle of reuse.
This process intrigued Rogers and the concept stuck with him when he came to the university – though he drives a catering van around campus, Rogers rides a scooter to campus from his place in Washington.
In all of his catering, Rogers tries to incorporate sustainability practices, though the food truck is the only place where it is possible to be completely green.
For Rogers, teaching is also important. He said he wants his full-time staff to constantly learn and grow, just as he learns and grows from them.
Caroline Cummings, a freshman letters and sciences major who helps Rogers manage office work and marketing for Good Tidings and Green Tidings, said Rogers’ sustainability efforts have made a big impression on her.
“I’m really about being eco-friendly but I don’t sometimes act on it,” she said. “Having worked with him I’m more aware of that because I’m around it all the time.”
Rogers’ efforts have also gone beyond sustainability. He said he likes to push the envelope on his menu; he’s been impressed that students have responded positively to the more unique options on the truck, such as a shoulder of lamb.
In the future, Rogers would like to open a second truck so as to reach more students on campus. He said he’s also “just trying to improve the catering operation every day and try to make it better, make it known more on campus.”
But for now, with one truck, Rogers is still making an impact. Students seem happy with the food and, without even trying, have been able to become a part of the green movement.
